AllianceBernstein Plans Multi-Manager TDFs

The AllianceBernstein Multi-Manager Select Retirement Funds
offer access to high-quality managers, based off assessments delivered through
Morningstar Associates’ independent investment selection process. The goal is
to deliver a better target-date design to plan sponsors and participants by
working with industry peers, AllianceBernstein says.

The new multi-manager target-date funds address issues that
the Department of Labor (DOL) identified in its “Tips
for ERISA Plan Fiduciaries,” noting that non-proprietary target-date funds
could offer advantages to plan participants by diversifying their exposures
among different investment providers.

The series will incorporate a range of asset classes,
including those that seek to provide diversification to stocks and bonds, with
the aim of delivering more consistent results and mitigating short-term risk.
AllianceBernstein will design and manage the glide path, adjusting asset-class
exposures as market conditions change, and will also provide overall program oversight.
Morningstar will select funds from the broad offerings of each participating
firm.

Over the past decade, the landscape for target-date
portfolio design and construction has evolved, says Daniel Loewy, chief
investment officer and co-head of AllianceBernstein’s multi-asset solutions
unit. “We’ve spent that time building defined contribution products of the
future at AllianceBernstein,” he says. “Today, we have access to new asset
classes and tools to solve some of the challenges presented by the traditional
target-date approach.”

The series will invest in funds managed by investment
managers at AQR, Franklin Templeton, MFS and PIMCO. The funds are expected to
be available for purchase by early November 2014.